MAVericks
Netflix ads reached more than 190 million global Monthly Active Viewers (MAVs) in October, the company announced at a press roundtable on Wednesday.
According to VP Mitzi Reaugh, the new MAV metric represents members who have watched at least one minute of ads on Netflix per month, multiplied by the estimated average number of people per household.
MAVs take the place of MAUs – monthly active users. Reaugh noted one advantage is that the MAV metric better captures co-viewing behaviors. So you can see why Netflix prefers it.
MAVs also include greater viewership outside of ad-supported plans, like during livestreamed events.
But switching from MAUs to MAVs won’t affect how Netflix sells ads, said President of Advertising Amy Reinhard. Instead, the goal is to be “more transparent and clear about how our audiences are interacting with the service.”
Where measurement is concerned, Reinhard said Netflix is in talks with various regional providers around the world, such as AGF in Germany and Auditel in Italy, but did not mention any domestic organizations (like, say, Nielsen or the JIC).
Furthermore, Netflix doesn’t have any plans to further industrywide adoption of MAVs. “To be honest, we haven’t thought about it,” Reinhard said.
CTV, Well Can You See What’s Coming?
There may be a serious reckoning coming for streaming media players and smart TV makers.
Beginning in January 2024, the state of California and regulators in Europe undertook separate sweeping investigations into the consumer data controls and data collection purposes for big streaming and smart TV companies, and they were horrified at what they found, as Alan Chapell writes at The Monopoly Report.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has brought one case full circle already, securing a $530,000 settlement with Sling TV last week for the company’s failure to provide an easy-to-use mechanism for users to opt out of personal data sales.
And streaming media companies invited this vampire into the house, so to speak, by making their ad experience so terrible and the opt-out experience essentially impossible. These practices are now easy targets for regulators.
Attorney General Bonta’s headline – “First Enforcement Action from DOJ’s Sweep of Streaming Services” – is a clear hint that Sling TV was first but won’t be the only company California penalizes for data collection practices.
Never tell me the odds!
If you experienced the NYC mayoral election solely through online Polymarket ads (like sports betting, but for everything), then Zohran Mamdani’s Tuesday night win might have surprised you.
Despite not yet being available to US users, the predictive market app placed a series of Meta ads with the phrases “Mamdani’s odds tumble overnight” and “Cuomo’s odds skyrocket overnight.” (Both refer to a small shift in betting odds last week, which Polymarket’s X account also categorized as a “collapse” for Mamdani.)
At best, this messaging reflects a point that YouTuber Coffeezilla recently made: Gambling websites are incentivized to encourage users toward losing bets to avoid a payout.
At worst, however, it suggests that the company (which has ties to right-wing tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Elon Musk) might have actively attempted to sway the election.
The head of the New York State Gaming Commission has already set its sights on a similar app, Kalshi, for running (slightly less subjective) DOOH ads about the election, Gothamist reports.
But again, unlike Kalshi, Polymarket is legally not allowed to permit transactions from users in the US – which is presumably why it sticks to online social media campaigns. Last year, for example, the company spent almost $1 million on Meta ads.
At least one Polymarket user lost $1 million betting against Mamdani, though. So maybe all those ads are worth the investment.
But Wait! There’s More!
The yearslong legal battle between Google and Epic Games ends in a settlement that will open up Android to third-party app stores. [The Verge]
Yes, Brussels really wants to break up Google. [Politico]
The industry back-and-forth over The Trade Desk’s recent controversial product launches has officially devolved to the point of ad tech leaders making passive-aggressive social media videos and blocking each other on LinkedIn. [post]
Shortly after acquiring rights to top Spotify podcasts, Netflix is in talks to acquire exclusive rights to select iHeartMedia video podcasts. [Emarketer]
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